The Distance Between Us

Track Thirty Nine - When We Were Young

The entire day passed in a daze as everyone mulled over Rahul's story. There were gaps, so many gaps, but they could all see that it had taken a toll on Rahul to talk about it, so no one asked him anything further. It was anyway so difficult for them to imagine the Billy they'd known could do something like this. Knowing more would hurt them more, like Rahul had cautioned.

Of them all, Nikki & Riddhima were affected most deeply. Nikki had known Billy Uncle almost all her life. Yes, she didn't think he was a great father, but she'd always been fond of him because of his playful and jolly nature. On the few occasions that she'd gone to Armaan's house and met him (which was even lesser than the times she'd gone to his house), he'd always made her laugh with his silly jokes and over - the - top persona. And, even though she knew that he wasn't a good father, she'd seen him be a great uncle. He would shower Jaanhavi with affection whenever she was around him - hugging her and kissing her forehead, buying her presents be it books or toys or clothes, always making sure she ate properly, having her favourite meals cooked all the time - she'd seen it all. She'd never seen him do the same things for Armaan.

There were many occasions when she would be stumped that Armaan didn't seem to be the least bit jealous of Jaanhavi and she'd see him watch Billy love on Jaanhavi with a soft, happy smile on his face. Finally, she'd mustered enough courage to ask him why he didn't envy Jaanhavi and his answer was something she'd never forget.

"Why should I be jealous of her? Jaanhavi is my little sister! And I'm happy that Dad at least loves one of us, makes time for one of us. Aur... mere liye haina, Bua Maa. You know... I'm sure she loves me more than Dad loves Jaan. Jab tak woh haina, I don't need anyone else to love me. Her love is more than enough."

Hearing a 14 year old boy talk with a maturity level that most adults couldn't achieve was not something she was expecting. She'd always known that Armaan had been mature, that he understood the workings of the world better than an average teenager, but that was the day she realized just how much he'd had to grow up at such an early age because of the circumstances at home.

But, his words had soothed her. She adored Jaanhavi and she didn't want there to be any sort of bad blood between her and Armaan because she knew that Jaanhavi was one of the very few people who genuinely cared for Armaan.

They'd always been so close. Armaan had been Jaanhavi's safe harbour, just like she had been Armaan's, in some ways. Jaanhavi always told Armaan everything, no matter how trivial. There were days when she'd tell him how many times she'd sneezed. So, she'd never ever imagined that Jaanhavi could keep something so huge from Armaan. It had shaken her deeply to find out that Jaanhavi had been so ill treated in her own home. Jaanhavi, who had once upon a time, been the closest thing Nikki had had to a sister.

She couldn't bring herself to shake the image of a young Jaanhavi, alone and scared, wanting escape in anyway, out of her mind. Everytime she closed her eyes, she saw those frightened eyes, the quivering lips, felt those shallow breaths, the shaking limbs. Now, she wished she didn't know, that she hadn't talked Rahul into it. She understood his reluctance to share it with her, and with everybody else. But, what was done was done. She'd make it better somehow. She knew she would. That was all that mattered anyway.

Riddhima, on the other hand, was going through a torment of her own. She'd done it again. She'd inevitably hurt Armaan. So deeply. Sometimes, she wondered if that was all she was good at - hurting Armaan, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Why did she have to use her idiotic brain? Why did she have to do this? She could've done something else to cheer Armaan up, to bring a smile to his face. But then, she remembered the way she'd felt when Rahul had said those words - he wasn't in the habit of calling home to tell someone he'd be late - and knew that nothing else could have cheered him up as much as meeting someone who cared so much about him would have.